On the usefulness of off-the-shelf computer peripherals for people with Parkinson’s Disease

People who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease face many challenges using computers, and mice are particularly problematic input devices. This article describes usability tests of standard peripherals for use by people with Parkinson’s Disease in order to search for optimal combinations relative to the needs of this user group. The results are used to determine their effect upon inertia, muscle stiffness, tremor, pain, strain and coordination and show that widely available equipment could significantly improve mouse pointer control for many users. The results reflect the diversity of challenges experienced by computer users with Parkinson’s Disease, and also illustrate how projector-based technology may improve computer interaction without risking strain injuries

Development of a Novel Handheld Device for Active Compensation of Physiological Tremor

In microsurgery, the human hand imposes certain limitations in accurately positioning the tip of a device such as scalpel. Any errors in the motion of the hand make microsurgical procedures difficult and involuntary motions such as hand tremors can make some procedures significantly difficult to perform. This is particularly true in the case of vitreoretinal microsurgery. The most familiar source of involuntary motion is physiological tremor. Real-time compensation of tremor is, therefore, necessary to assist surgeons to precisely position and manipulate the tool-tip to accurately perform a microsurgery. In this thesis, a novel handheld device (AID) is described for compensation of physiological tremor in the hand. MEMS-based accelerometers and gyroscopes have been used for sensing the motion of the hand in six degrees of freedom (DOF). An augmented state complementary Kalman filter is used to calculate 2 DOF orientation. An adaptive filtering algorithm, band-limited Multiple Fourier linear combiner (BMFLC), is used to calculate the tremor component in the hand in real-time. Ionic Polymer Metallic Composites (IPMCs) have been used as actuators for deflecting the tool-tip to compensate for the tremor

The Development of an Antagonistic SMA Actuation Technology for the Active Cancellation of Human Tremor.

Human Tremor is an unintentional bodily motion that affects muscle control among both healthy individuals and those with movement disorders, occasionally to severe detriment. While assistive devices avoid the risk of side effects from pharmacological or surgical treatments, most devices are impractical for daily use due to limitations inherent in conventional actuators. The goal of this research is to address these limitations by developing an antagonistic Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuation technology, enabling a new class of active tremor cancellation devices. This is accomplished through the construction of a model and body of empirical support that provides the necessary design insight and predictive power for an antagonistic actuator that ensures stable amplitude and high frequency motion with low power draw. Actuation frequency and power draw were improved while balancing their competing effects through the development of: 1) a method that accurately measures the convective coefficient of SMA to enhance actuator design, 2) a growth process for carbon nanotube cooling fins to enhance cooling in a fixed medium, and 3) an understanding of the antagonistic architecture to produce increased frequency in a controllable manner. To enable applications requiring predictability for positioning and complex control, a thermodynamic model for antagonistic SMA was derived to account for inertial, slack, boiling, friction, and convective effects. Using the model, a series of simulation studies provided design insight on the effect of operating environment, driving signal, and environmental conditions so that the generic actuation system can be utilized in a wide variety of applications beyond tremor cancellation. If high forces are required in such applications, stability issues can arise, which were addressed in experimental shakedown research that broadens the high-stress SMA design space. The technology enabled by this dissertation was demonstrated in a working Active Cancellation of Tremor (ACT) prototype that produced 71% RMS cancellation of human tremor. The cancellation results show significant improvement over the current state of the art by providing intuitive, lightweight, compact hand-held tremor cancellation that is a promising solution to numerous assistive applications in medical, military, and manufacturing sectors.Ph.D.Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76010/1/apathak_1.pd